To have the marriage that we all want and dream of means we have to learn to love our spouse well. The Bible says it best, Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8. But what is love? Is it simply being romantic or having creative date nights. Is it remembering your spouse's birthday or bringing her flowers? The Greek word for "fails" in this verse is translated "to fall." When the Bible says love never fails, it means it will not fall or falter. Love is constant, consistent, and can be counted on. To love our spouse well means we have to be constant in our love. We will never be perfect, but we can can be consistent.
1 Corinthians 13 gives us a beautiful description of what it means to love our spouse well. Love is patient, love is kind... Last week we looked at patience, so this week we will see what it means to be kind.
To love well means we treat each other with kindness. Immediately when we think of kindness, we think of doing a nice deed or saying nice words. Although being kind to your spouse does mean doing nice things or saying nice words, biblical kindness is even deeper than that.
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. Titus 3:4-5
The love and kindness God showed us was the most beautiful demonstration of his mercy. Mercy is what we all truly long for and desire - please treat me with gentleness and compassion, even though I don't deserve it.
Loving well is showing kindness even when your spouse irritates you. It is showing kindness even when they don't deserve it. When we see the love and kindness God has extended towards us, it gives us an example of how we are to be kind to our spouse. But more than that, it gives us the faith and supernatural strength to show kindness and mercy.
When you want to be angry, be kind instead. What you want to be short, be kind instead. When we want to be judgmental, be kind instead. When you want to be selfish, be kind instead. Kindness transforms a marriage because we are extending mercy towards one another. And a love and kindness based upon the mercy of God will not fail.
Make a list of 1-2 things you can do to show kindness to your spouse this week.
Make a list of 1-2 kind things you can say to your spouse this week.
Choose to show mercy and give kindness instead.
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